Reflection tools: journaling
Having a reflection practice is becoming more and more important to me, and the benefits more apparent. There was a time a few years ago where I knew it was useful, but I did the majority of the reflection in my head. As a general ‘thinky’ person I can spend a lot of time in there anyway; reflecting is kind of a natural state for me to be in - away with the fairies, head in the clouds. But these days I’m much more intentional in my reflection practice and the results are much more rewarding.
In fact, as a thinky-type (aka introvert) it can be incredibly useful to have a guide or some kind of structure to channel my abundance of thoughts. Otherwise they can be scattered, repetitive or obsessive - or all of those things altogether - and for me that feels stressful.
Journaling is something I’ve bought into wholeheartedly this year, after a long time understanding the benefits but not actually doing any of the work. Before it used to feel like just another thing to keep on top of, or to feel guilty about not doing (I am terrible at documenting in general - two unfulfilled baby books later…). But since shifting the focus from diary keeping to wellbeing, it is no longer a stick to beat myself with, but a celebrated item in my self-care toolbox.
There are so many benefits to having a reflection practice, such as self-discovery and understanding, harnessing your intuition, self-care, wellbeing, personal growth, gaining clarity, a greater connection to yourself and the world around you to name a few. But it is also so beneficial to running a small, creative business. When we take a bit of time to understand what has been going well for us, where we can develop ourselves or where fear may be showing up in the way we’re living, we have the opportunity to change or lean into the things that are going to help us live in our ‘flow’.
Without reflection it is harder for us to recognise where the barriers are. It can be easy to get bogged down in the day to day and forget the big picture. We are more likely to run on autopilot instead of forging a more authentic and aligned path for ourselves.
We may have ideas and ruminations running daily in our minds, but without the structure and ability to look back to assess what has changed, how far we’ve come or what the common themes are, we are losing a golden opportunity for growth and progress.
where to begin?
First of all I’d really encourage buying just a normal notebook. Nothing fancy that you’re going to be too worried about messing up with your imperfect handwriting, or imperfect thoughts and ideas. Just a bog standard pad, ruled/squared/plain/whatever - and make it a place you can express freely. Or if you’re the liberated type that isn’t afraid to mess up a pretty notebook, then go for it! (and tell us what your secret is).
Secondly, I’d also encourage writing on actual paper, with your actual handwriting instead of typing into your phone or computer. There’s something about the process of writing with pen and paper that I believe helps you to connect with your thoughts more clearly. It slows down your brain enough to filter out a lot of the residual noise, and it also helps me to retain those thoughts - like the act of writing them down helps to solidify them in my mind. Clearer thoughts, and less mental chatter in my experience; which is always welcome.
Then, in honesty it’s up to you.
There are many different structures for journaling (some of which I will come back to later in more depth), but the way I use journaling is in a semi-regular way as well as when I feel like I need to. So for example, each season I will look back at what I think has gone well, what needs work, where I am in relation to my goals and what I want to change or implement going forward - this is really useful when running a business, or keeping yourself accountable with your goals.
The other way I like to use journaling is in a more self-care kind of way, as and when I need it. If I’ve been struggling with something or feel particularly triggered, I will get some paper and write it out. Asking myself the right questions, and putting some perspective on things. Digging deeper, shining a light on your thoughts and (if necessary) reframing them is such a powerful tool when you’re facing self-doubt or confusion.
Morning pages
I’m sure many of you have heard of this practice before, or even have it as part of your daily routine; but this is something that was completely new to me until late last year (I think) when I joined a community challenge to complete morning pages every day for a month.
Morning pages is where you fill three pages with writing, stream of consciousness style. The idea is that you do it in the morning ideally, as a bit of a brain dump, which then frees you up for the rest of the day. It’s meant to rid you of some of that mental chatter, help you connect with yourself and decipher what’s yours and what you may have picked up from elsewhere. It’s like a form of mindfulness, but with some surprising reflections along the way.
It was developed as one of the practices within The Artists Way by Julia Cameron as something to help artists gain clarity and get out of their own way. One of the most valuable things about morning pages I found is that you must continue to write, without distraction and censoring - which is incredibly freeing, and something I don’t really get so much with other forms of journaling. You can always destroy the pages afterwards; they’re not meant for revisiting (or sharing for that matter).
dear diary
Journaling is completely different to the old notion I had of keeping a diary; which I think most sensitive girls my age did when we were navigating our way through the school years. But instead of writing about the boys we fancy or the time we put socks on the cat, we can use journaling to explore our own thoughts, ideas and wisdom. It’s also an amazing personal development tool.
As is so often true, personal development and running a creative business go hand in hand, and the more tools we have to play around with the more we get to tailor our own practices to what best works for us. So why not give journaling a try?
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